Alamogordo Lady Tigers drop tough games to Carlsbad 5-2 and 5-3

Sierra Gentry goes 2-2 at the plate with an RBI in game one

John Bear—Daily News
Alamogordo's Lexi Borunda runs for first during a game against Carlsbad Thursday.

The Carlsbad Cavegirls (2-0) defeated the Alamogordo Lady Tiger in a double-header by the scores of 5-2 and 5-3 Thursday night.

In game one Sierra Gentry went 2-2 with a run batted in on a sacrifice fly and a walk while Ryata Daniel went 2-3 at the plate with a pair of singles and a run scored. Daniel, coming off of basketball season, was a little rusty in the circle. She allowed two runs on four hits with two strikeouts while Gentry came in for relief fanning one batter.

For Carlsbad, Sydney Christopher had a huge RBI-triple in the two run top of the seventh inning. Monique Ybarra also hit a triple, later scoring on a passed ball. Pitcher Kyleigh Yerby fanned six batters. Yerby pitched in both games going the distance and tallying 12 strikeouts in both games.

In game two, Macie Perrin got the call and compiled five strikeouts with only five hits allowed. One of the five hits was a home run by Christopher in the top of the sixth inning.

For Alamogordo (2-2), Perrin along with three other Lady Tigers went 1-3 on the night. Perrin singled up the middle and later stole second base and scored in the bottom of the first. Alamogordo later scored in the bottom of the fifth inning when Daniel singled to right and advanced to home on two passed balls and a grounder to first hit by Breanna Jacobs.

"I think we worked hard," said Gentry. "We still have to get that finishing mentality, we have to finish every game strong and hard. Every inning, every at-bat, we can't let it carry on to the next game or next play. I think we're going to have a good season."

Advertisement

Carlsbad after all finished last season ranked No. 3 in the state and also looks to be a top contender this season.

Perrin added, "I felt like I could've done a little bit better and help my team out by hitting my spots more, but I think they had my back on the field. I was pretty confident. We just have to work on a lot of things and make less errors. It's a mental game and we have to be tough."

Alamogordo softball coach Charlene Reyes said, "We always like to play the best, no matter what, that let's us know where we're at and where we need to be. It's early in the season, so that gives us the heads up on what we need to work on. Their a tough team and we're a tough team."

"Stats, player for player, I think that within the rest of the season we would be able to beat them and out play them. We had miscues and missed out on some opportunities, that we didn't follow through (on). If that mean's we're going to take a loss early in the season, then we will be able to work on what we need to work on to get to the state tournament."

One of the missed opportunities the Lady Tigers had was in a bases loaded situation when Carlsbad turned a triple play to get out of the inning.

"When we don't produce with the bases loaded like that and we get tripled up, that kill's us," said Alamogordo assistant coach Ronnie Reyes. "It brings the whole momentum down and that's hard to overcome. Even on the field pitching-wise and everything."

"When we get in that kind of situation, we got to get more focused, a lot more concentrated and more aggressive."

In the first game, Alamogordo out hit Carlsbad nine to seven and only committed three error's to Carlsbad's five. However, the Lady Tigers left eight runners stranded.

"Statistically we are the better team, we just got to learn to finish strong and to always go hard," said assistant coach Courtney Reyes.

The Lady Tigers will compete at the Las Cruces Public School's tournament beginning March 14 against Piedra Vista.